Starovic: Kurti's request to remove 48 Serbian military bases is insolence; he has no right to do so

State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense Nemanja Starovic pointed out that the fact that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was asking for the removal of 48 Serbian military bases along the administrative line was insolence, and that Serbia had the sovereign right to decide on the arrangement of military and police bases.

Starovic told RTS that what was happening today in the north of Kosovo was something that was completely uncharacteristic for the Europe of the 21st century.

"It's something we can't see anywhere else, and it's an attempt to install some kind of absolutely undemocratic administration," Starovic said.

He stated that with the request to Serbia to remove the military bases, Kurti showed his insolence and desire for escalation.

"This is very important and it is about the demands that Albin Kurti presented yesterday afternoon to the International Community but also to the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia, that is, the conditions he set for de-escalation to occur. One of those four demands is to remove 48 Serbian military bases located near the administrative line. This is a great audacity of Albin Kurti because, except for Kosovo and Metohija, which is under the regime of the UN in accordance with Resolution 1244, it is the sovereign right of the state authorities of the Republic of Serbia to decide on the deployment of military and police bases throughout our territory," Starovic said.

He added that Serbia respected the Kumanovo Agreement and Resolution 1244 and deployed military bases on its territory accordingly.

He pointed out that Pristina was not a part of any agreement, and that Kurti had no right to make such demands. He expressed the hope that the international community would recognize Kurti's intentions and that such behavior would be sanctioned.

"Specifically, when we talk about army and police bases, positions near the administrative line with Kosovo, the military-technical agreement from Kumanovo and Resolution 1244, as well as all other agreements and arrangements reached with the KFOR mission, are relevant for us. In all those agreements, the institutions in Pristina, are not and cannot be foreign, and therefore the making of such demands by Albin Kurti represents, on the one hand, great insolence, and I hope that they will be recognized in that way in the international community, and on the other hand, they represent a clear sign and a clear signal that Kurti certainly does not want de-escalation. This must be recognized in the right way and sanctioned with clear punitive measures, as far as today I hope," Starovic said.

Starovic adds that for months or even years, Kurti has been trying to promote some kind of narrative that he represents Kosovo as some kind of oasis of democracy and human rights within the European continent and certainly within the Western Balkans, but it must be clear to anyone is more serious informed about the situation in Kosovo, as he states, that does not apply to the members of the Serbian nation and other non-majority communities.

"There are so many examples that show that the human and political rights of our compatriots are threatened, that there is a systemic discrimination that runs through a cross-section of the institutional system that exists in Kosovo, whether we are talking about the executive or judicial power, we are now witnessing, especially in the last few weeks with those illegal or extrajudicial arrests of the Serbs, even when we have verdicts of the highest judicial instances that would be in favor of the Serbs or the SOC, as is the case with the return of land to the Visoki Decani Monastery, that such verdicts are ignored and not implemented and having all that in mind, it is terribly hypocritical to speak in such a way and with such praise about the state of democracy and human rights," Starovic added.

He stated that the situation in Kosovo was not good and that we were facing great challenges.

"But I have to use the opportunity to express my admiration and my support for our compatriots who have been protesting in the north of Kosovo and Metohija for more than a month in a peaceful, democratic way, with the aim of protecting their basic human and political rights," Starovic said.

According to him, they show great determination, but also responsibility.

"So, what is happening today in the north of Kosovo and Metohija is completely uncharacteristic for Europe of the 21st century, that we cannot see anywhere else, and that is an attempt to install some kind of absolutely undemocratic administration. We are talking about fake mayors who were elected with one or two percent of the vote and this is done with absolutely excessive force, with hundreds of members of the special militarized monoethnic Albanian forces of the Kosovo Police. This must come to an end, and that is why the determination and the will of the Serbs to resist it democratically is important," he says.

He believes that Pristina's approach is undemocratic.

"When we talk about the institutions in Pristina, we have a very rigid approach, an approach that is absolutely undemocratic, that is absolutely in disagreement with the standards of modern or contemporary Europe, and it is now up to those who provide political support to Kurti to finally implement a decisive pressure in order to such an approach be abandoned," he added.

Starovic points out that he constantly talks about the fact that the responsibility of the Quint states is extremely high, considering that they supported Kurti for a good part in a sequence of events or a sequence of moves he made, starting with the support for the organization of such illegitimate elections.

"We are talking about the whole election process about the support, despite the election results, the turnout was 3.47 percent in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, in all four municipalities, when we talk about the Serbian population, only 0.029 percent - despite this, they supported the announcement of the election results and even the ath-taking of those illegitimate mayors, so that only at the end when Kurti decided to install those illegitimate mayors and municipal buildings with the use of excessive force, would they withdraw their support," Starovic pointed out.

However, the damage has already been done and therefore it is up to them to repair the damage, adds Starovic, noting that they have not been able to do so for a month.

"I do not question their goodwill, but it is obvious that the absence of concrete, realistic measures somehow serves as further encouragement for Albin Kurti to continue with his unilateral moves," he says.

The international community criticizes Pristina and Kurti more and more frequently and harshly because of the situation in the north of Kosovo, and, as he adds, even harsher condemnations can be heard in the Pristina public.

"I agree with the fact that the awareness has matured, even in the western part of the international community, that Kurti is someone who causes problems and who needs to be reasoned with. But I am afraid that there is still no readiness to take some concrete steps and implement some realistic measures. What we could hear are measures that are quite mild. Neither Albin Kurti nor any of his average supporters in the area of Kosovo and Metohija will get too excited about the cancellation of some high-level political meeting, or that it will lead to a delay, in the implementation of certain financial arrangements with the EU. This is not close or clear to ordinary people and those who support Kurti," he adds.

Starovic notes that he understands the fact that the sponsors of Kosovo's independence, in the West, the Quint states, now want to find the measures required in a very narrow space between the desire to punish Kurti on the one hand, but also to continue with full support for Pristina as such.

"But the space is narrow for it to enable the finding of some effective and concrete measures. And I believe that much more determination from the international community is needed here as well," Starovic concluded.